High Court

FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT HIGH COURT - PAGE 2

PIERRE - A former Wolsey minister has lost the second appeal of his conviction for killing his wife while he was having an affair with another woman. The South Dakota Supreme Court on Thursday rejected William Guthrie's request for a new trial. Guthrie had argued that he was unfairly convicted in 2000 because his defense lawyer did not try to exclude some evidence obtained by law officers. The high court said officers had probable cause to get a search warrant to examine Guthrie's computer, which showed Internet searches on bathtub accidents and prescription drugs like the one found in his wife's body.

PIERRE (AP) - Former Sioux Falls insurance agent Ryan Wingler must repay nearly $330,000 to the insurance company that reimbursed victims of his swindling scheme, the South Dakota Supreme Court ruled Thursday. Wingler pleaded guilty last year to five counts of insurance fraud and one count of grand theft of property received in trust. He was sentenced to 21 years in prison, with three years suspended. Retired Supreme Court Justice Robert Amundson, sitting as a circuit judge in the case, also required Wingler to repay victims for losses totaling nearly $374,000.

A former state Supreme Court justice has been appointed as city attorney in Sioux Falls. Robert A. Amundson will begin his new job on June 3. Amundson, who served 11 years on the high court, will replace current City Attorney Gary Colwill. Colwill has applied for another city position. Amundson was on the South Dakota Supreme Court from 1991 to 2002. He had previously served as a circuit judge from 1987 to 1991. By The Associated Press

PIERRE - If you see South Dakota Supreme Court Justice Richard W. Sabers before Friday, slap him on the back - gently, of course. Sabers is retiring, and a reception in his honor will take place Friday at the Westward Ho Country Club in Sioux Falls. Sabers has been on the high court for 22 years. He turned 70 in February, which is the mandatory retirement age for justices. He will be automatically retired on Jan. 6. Gov. Mike Rounds is considering several applicants as a successor. The job pays $118,000 a year.

A Mobridge couple has lost their bid to cancel a contract to purchase a house and property they claim is infested with snakes. The South Dakota Supreme Court has upheld a circuit judge's ruling that denied Kelly and Michelle McCollam's request to cancel a contract that called for them to buy the house. The McCollams argued that the previous owner, Neil Cahill, failed to disclose that there were a lot of bull snakes in the house and on the surrounding property. The high court said the McCollams failed to prove there was any snake problem on the property.

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) ? The South Dakota Supreme Court has dismissed an appeal involving a $200,000 trust fund left over from the closing of the Enchanted World Doll Museum in Mitchell. The high court says an appeal by the museum's nonprofit board must be thrown out because the museum did not give notice of its appeal to another charitable foundation involved in the case. The trust fund was set up to support the Enchanted World Doll Museum by Eunice Thomas Reese, who has since died. After the museum announced it would close, the manager of the trust fund asked a judge to give the money to another charity.

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) Â? Democratic Sen. Tim Johnson of South Dakota says the president's choice to fill a U.S. Supreme Court vacancy is known as a moderate judge. Sonia Sotomayor (SUHN'-ya soh-toh-my-YOR') is a federal appeals court judge for the circuit that covers New York, Vermont and Connecticut. President Barack Obama nominated her to the high court on Tuesday. Johnson says Sotomayor got strong, bipartisan Senate support when President George H.W. Bush appointed her to the federal bench and later when she was nominated to the appeals court in 1998.

PIERRE - South Dakota's circuit judges and Supreme Court justices would be allowed to work five years longer under legislation approved Wednesday by the state Senate. State law currently retires judges and justices to retire at age 70. The legislation, SB78, would change the mandatory retirement age to 75. ?By doing so I think we will be retaining a lot of talent and experience,? Sen. Gene Abdallah, R-Sioux Falls, said. Senators voted 33-1 in favor of the change. The House of Representatives considers it next.

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) ? The South Dakota Supreme Court has upheld a man's convictions for kidnapping and raping a Sioux Falls woman in September 2007. The high court ruled unanimously that there was enough evidence to support the convictions of Vincent Chad Fasthorse. The justices also ruled that Fasthorse received a fair trial. Fasthorse, 38, was sentenced to 60 years in prison after a jury convicted him of kidnapping, rape and aggravated assault. He also is serving a sentence for a Bennett County conviction.

PIERRE - A Sioux Falls police officer violated a man's constitutional rights because the officer had no reason to search the man's pickup truck during a routine traffic stop, the South Dakota Supreme Court ruled Thursday. The high court's unanimous decision upholds a decision by Circuit Judge Glen A. Severson, who said evidence of illegal drugs could not be used against Wade Dustin Hayen. The evidence was obtained in an unconstitutional search after the officer had already determined that a traffic violation had not occurred, the judge said.